The is the name given to the hijacking between May3 and May4, 2000, of a Japanese bus by a user of

internet forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

2channel , also known as 2ch, Channel 2, and sometimes retrospectively as 2ch.net, was an anonymous Japanese textboard founded in 1999 by Hiroyuki Nishimura. Described in 2007 as "Japan's most popular online community", the site had a level of influ ...

after placing a warning on the website.

History

Nishitetsu temporary bus for Daikozenji Temple

An hour after posting a cryptic threat in a thread with the name "Neomugicha" ("Neo- Barley Tea"; ネオむぎ茶), the 17-year-old hijacked a bus managed by

Nishi-Nippon Railroad The , also called or NNR, is one of Japan's "Big 16" private railroad companies. With headquarters in Fukuoka, it operates local and highway buses, supermarkets, real estate and travel agencies, as well as railways in Fukuoka Prefecture ...

in Dazaifu,

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...

at 1:35p.m. Armed with a Gyuto knife (牛刀 "gyūtō" or chef's knife), he stabbed one passenger to death and injured two.''

Wired News ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...

''.
2-Channel Gives Japan's Famously Quiet People a Mighty Voice
. 19 April 2007. The hijacking was reported by 2:47p.m. by a 40year old female passenger after she was able to escape from the bus. The

Special Assault Team The is a police tactical unit in major Japanese prefectural police departments, supervised by the National Police Agency. The SAT is a national-level counter-terrorism unit that cooperates with territorial-level Anti-Firearms Squads and Cou ...

's Osaka and Fukuoka teams stormed the hijacked bus and captured the teenager alive. The unnamed teenager was arrested under the Firearm and Sword Control Law and the Law for the Punishment of Extortion Involving Hostage-Taking. Due to the self-defense requirements as stipulated in the Law Concerning Execution of Duties of Police Officials, it took more than 15hours for the hostage crisis to end. The incident was resolved on May4 at 5:03a.m.

Aftermath

Later, a poster named "Neoūroncha" ("Neo-

oolong tea Oolong (, ; (''wūlóngchá'', "dark dragon" tea)) is a traditional semi-oxidized Chinese tea ('' Camellia sinensis)'' produced through a process including withering the plant under strong sun and oxidation before curling and twisting.Zhonggu ...

") attempted to imitate Neomugicha by plotting to blow up the

Odakyu Electric Railway , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its '' Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone. The Odakyu Electric Railway Compa ...

in Japan and posting warnings about it on 2channel. After the Neomugicha incident, however, the Japanese police were keeping a close eye on 2channel, so he was identified and arrested before his plan could be carried out. A poster called "Neobīru" ("Neo-Beer") also attempted to imitate the incident, planning a terrorist attack on a railway company, but he was also arrested. In 2006, the suspect was officially released from a medical reformatory facility. This action led to calls to reform the Juvenile Act, which was law since 1948. The Hiroshima Prefectural Police established the Hostage Rescue Team in the Hiroshima Prefectural Police's Criminal Investigation Department as part of lessons learned from the incident.

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